Folding rack for hand-trucks.



N. E. WEDGE.

FOLDING RACK FOB. HAND TRUCKS.

APPLIGATION FILED IEB. 4, 1914.

1,099,584, Patented June 9, 1914.

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WITH/58858:

Afro/Mr N. E. WEDGE.

FOLDING RACK FOR HAND TRUCKS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4, 1914.

1,099,584., Patented June 9,1914.

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NESTOR .E. WEDGE, OF LONG HILL, CONNECTICUT.

FOLDING RACK FOR HAND-TRUGKS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. June 9, 1914.

Application filed February 4, 1914. Serial No. 816,508.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Nnsron E. lVnnon, acitizen of the United States, residing at Long Hill, county ofFairfield, State of Connecticut, have invented an Improvement in FoldingRacks for Hand-Trucks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide a folding two-part rack forhand trucks that may be readily attached to trucks already in use, maybe easily thrown into or out of operative position, will be self-lockingwhen out of operative position and which will be wholly out of the waywhen not in use and will not interfere to the slightest extent with theordinary use of the truck.

l vith these and other objects in view I have devised the novelstructure, which I will now describe, referring to the accon1- panyingdrawings forming a part of this specification and using referencecharacters to indicate the several parts.

Figure 1 is a perspective of a truck with my novel rack applied theretoand in operative position; Fig. 2 a perspective show ing the rack in thefolded position, as when the truck is in ordinary use; Fig. 3 anenlarged elevation of the left arm of the rack (as seen in F 2)detached; Fig. .-t a view of the lower end of said arm, as seen from theleft in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 a detail view of the inner face of one of theside bars of a truck showing the locking plate in place thereon; Fig. 6a detail view on a still larger scale illustrating a means for attachingthe locking plate to the side bar; Fig. 7 a detail elevation showing theleft arm of the rack in locking engagement with the corresponding sidebar of a truck; Fig. 8 a similar view showing the action of the lockingprojection on the rack arm in connection with the locking plate on theside bar, after the projection has been disengaged from the recess inthe plate and the swinging movement of the rack toward the operativeposition has commenced; Fig. 9 an end view of the rack with the arms inthe position. they assume when locked out of operative position, as inFig. 2; Fig. lo a similar view with the arms in the operative position,as in Fig. 1, and Fig. 11 is a sec tion on the line 11-11 in Fig. 9,looking in the direction of the arrows.

10 denotes the bill, 11 the side bars and 112 the cross bars of a handtruck which may be of the ordinary or any preferred design so far as mypresent invention is concerned, it being understood of course, that asthis type of trucks is ordinarily constructed, the side bars divergemore or less from the bill toward the handles, a slight divergence being shown in the drawings.

In order to insure that the rack will lie in close engagement with theside bars of the truck when the rack is not in use, so as not tointerfere to the slightest extent with the ordinary use of the truck,and at the same time the rack will be perfectly rigid and free from atendency to rattle, I make the rack to consist of two parts or armswhich are constructed and connected together in the manner I will nowdescribe.

l3 denotes the left arm which is provided with an inwardly extendingangle arm 15 having near its inner end an elongated slot 15, and 16denotes the right arm which is provided with an inwardly extending anglearm 17 having on its under-side a catch comprising a head 18 with slots19 under the head on opposite sides thereof. The angle arms are madetapering in thickness from the arms toward their inner ends, whichoverlap. The head and slot are interengaging and it is of courseimmaterial which arm is provided with the head and which with the slot.in assembling, the head is turned longitudinally to the slot and passedthrough it and then the angle arm carrying the head is turned intosubstantial alinement with the other angle arm, the head lyingtransversely to the slot and the portions of the other arm out-sidelongitudinal slot 15 lying in the slots 19 under the head.

in the inoperative position of the rack, as in 2 and 9, the outer endsof the arms are moved apart to cause them to lie closely in engagementwith the diverging side bars of the truck, the angle arm which isprovided with the longitudinal slot. 15 lying loosely in the slots 19under the head of the other angle arm. In the operative position of therack, as in Figs. 1 and 10, the outer ends of the arms are forced inwardand the taper off the angle arms causes one arm to wedge in the slots 19under the head of the other arm, as will be more fully explained.

In order to strengthen the arms, they are each provided on their innersides with enlargements 20 which are beveled downward and inward so asnot to interfere with the use of a truck in carrying a barrel or cask.

The outer ends of the arms, at the intersection therewith of the anglearms, are shown as provided with project-ions 31 which act to retainlong articles from slipping off. At the inner ends of the arms are heads21 each provided with a locking projection shown as made ii-shaped whichis highest at its outer edge and is inclined toward the center.

Upon the inner side of each side bar is a locking plate 23 having arecess 2a which just receives the corresponding locking proection. Oneedge of the locking projection and one edge of the locking recess,either or both, may be beveled as at and 26 respectively in order tofacilitate the passage of the projection out of the recess in swingingthe rack from the inoperative to the operative position. The arms arepivoted to the side bars by bolts 27 which pass through the side bars,the locking plates and the arms and extend inward beyond the arms. Eachbolt carries a nut 28 and a spring 29 bearing against the nut and thecorresponding arm to retain the arm closely in engagement with thelocking plate and side bar, as clearly shown in Fig. 7. I have shown thelocking plates as secured in place by means of lugs 30 formed integraltherewith, which are driven into the wood of the side bars and securelyretain the plates in place without the use of nails or screws.

In order to attach my novel rack to a truck already in use it is simplynecessary to bore one hole only in each side bar to receive a pivotbolt.

The operation is as follows: It has already been explained that the sidebars of trucks ordinarilydiverge more or less, and that it is essentialfor satisfactory results that the arms of the rack lie close to the sidebars of the truck in the inoperative position. hen the rack is lying inthe inoperative position as in Fig. 2, a push with the hand or footthrows it out from the position shown and it is easily swung down to theoperative position as in Fig. 1. The locking projections ride out fromthe recesses in the locking plates and the bevels on the lockingprojections through their engagement with the locking plates swing thearms inward substantially parallel with each other in which positionthey lie against the bill in use. This cam action of the bevels on thelocking plates causes the angle arms to move inward, as shown in Fig.10, and, by means of the taper in thickness of the angle arms, causesone of said arms to wedge in the slots under the head on the other arm,so as to prevent rattling in use and make the rack perfectly rigid as ifmade in a single piece. hen the rack is swung downward into inoperativeposition again, the locking projections drop into the recesses again andthrough the action of the springs the angle arms are caused to moveoutward relatively to each other as in Figs. 2 and 9 and the arms arethrown into close engagement with the side bars of the truck andretained wholly out of the way.

Having thus described my invention I claim:

1. The combination with the side bars of a truck, of a twopart rack, asliding connection at the outer ends of the parts, pivots at the innerends thereof and springs F acting against the parts to retain them inengagement with the side bars in the inoperative position.

2. The combination with the side bars of a truck, of a rack pivotedthereto and comprising arms having overlapping angle arms at their outerends, a sliding connection between said angle arms, and springs at theinner ends of the arms whereby in the inoperative position the arms arecaused to lie closely in engagement with the side bars.

3. The combination with the side bars of a truck, of a two-part rackpivoted to the side bars, overlapping angle arms at the outer ends ofthe arms, a catch and slot connection for the angle arms and springsacting against the arms, for the purpose set forth.

4:. The combination with diverging side bars of a truck, of a two-partrack pivoted to the side bars and having overlapping angle arms, asliding connection for said angle arms and springs at their inner endsacting to retain the arms in close engagement with the diverging sidebars when .in the inoperative position.

5. The combination with the side bars of a truck, of a two-part rackpivoted thereto and angle arms at the outer ends of the parts whichtaper inward in thickness, one of said angle arms having a slot and theother angle arm a catch with a head and slots under the head whichreceive the slotted arm, so that the arms wedge when forced inward.

6. The combination with the side bars of a truck of a two-part rackpivoted thereto, said parts having a sliding connection at their outerend and heads at their inner ends, said side bars having plates withlocking recesses and the heads upon the parts of the rack having lockingprojections adapted to engage said recesses in the inoperative positionand to ride on the locking plates in the operative position, for thepurpose set forth.

T. The combination with the side bars of a truck provided with lookingplates having recesses, of rack members pivoted to the side bars andhaving heads provided with looking projections adapted to engage therecesses and springs acting on the heads of the members.

8. The combination with the side bars of a truck, and locking plates onsaid bars rack members having heads at their inner ends provided withlooking projections adapted to engage the recesses, bolts passingthrough the side bars and the locking plates and springs carried by saidbolts and acting against the heads.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

NESTOR E. WEDGE.

WVitnesses MARIE L. HAGGEMAN, DENNIS F. COLLINS.

Copies 0! this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). G.

